


How to Prove to Your Family That Your Boyfriend Isn't a Murderer

by GooseJacket



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Also Bill is nicknamed "Lib", Amnesia, Amnesiac Bill Cipher, Amnesiac Dipper Pines, But only because she was the first disney doctor I could think of, Dipper's mind got wiped instead of Stan's AU, F/F, Hospitals (for chapters 4 and 5, Human Bill Cipher, I swear they will become their characters more as the story progresses, M/M, Multi, Oh yeah everyone's probably super out of character, The Mystery Twins are aged up to fifteen in this apparently, There is a character named Dr. McStuffins, Trans Dipper Pines, i have no clue what i'm doing, idk - Freeform, inconsistant POV, maybe 6?), no beta we die like men, probably, whoops sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:23:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooseJacket/pseuds/GooseJacket
Summary: "As Dipper extended his left arm to shake Bill's, he took the memory gun out of his vest with his right.The moment the hands collided, the trigger was pulled.And Gravity Falls was restored."Right before Stan could erase Bill's existence in his mind, Dipper does the same in HIS mind.Dipper gets amnesia and the Pines family not only has to deal with that, but with a clingy human Bill with amnesia too.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines
Comments: 20
Kudos: 156





	1. Prologue

“I THINK I’M GONNA KILL ONE OF THEM, JUST FOR FUN!” Bill’s booming voice echoed. The twins’ Cipher symbols flashed across his eye like a lottery machine with every word: “EENIE, MEENIE, MINEY--”

“WAIT--I KNOW THE SOLUTION!” All eyes looked at Dipper as the fifteen-year-old screamed. Bill narrowed his eye in suspicion. “Really! To reverse the weirdness magnet? He told me this once. I swear! anyways, it's just a ritual thing. Seriously!"

"HA! Why should I believe you, kid? How should I know you aren't just trying to trick me?" Dipper glanced over at Stan and Ford making big 'DON'T DO THIS' gestures. Well--screw it. He's doing it anyways.

"What's the worst that could happen? You waste a few seconds sifting through my memories? Besides, Ford probably has five plans to defeat you in his head alphabetized and ready to go--would you really take that risk?"

"Dipper, no, Don't do this!" Mabel called from where she was perched on Bill's other hand. The boy ignored her.

"Hmm... You have a point Pine tree. Fine! Any last requests?"

"Let my family go!" if this goes as it should, whether they're free or not wouldn't matter, but just in case, Ford can save Stan and Mabel.

The massive triangle scoffed, dropping a protesting Mabel and the cage around the Stans with the roll of his eye. He set Dipper down and stuck out his left hand. "IT'S A DEAL!"

As Dipper extended his left arm to shake Bill's, he took the memory gun out of his vest with his right.

The moment the hands collided, the trigger was pulled.

And Gravity Falls was restored.


	2. Step 1: Introduce your boyfriend to your family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: very light description of a dislocated knee; one character attempts to shoot another with a gun
> 
> Please tell me if there's more I should note

"DIPPER!" Mabel screeched as she tore through the forest. When weirdmaggedon was reversed, she and the older Pines twins were set down in a different place than her twin, and she couldn't think of anything but needing to know where he was. "DIPPER! WHERE ARE YOU?!"  
  
A groan came from somewhere to her right. She pivoted and ran even faster, until finally--  
  
"DIPPER THANK GOD!!!" She raced to his side.  
The boy was lying on the ground face-down and missing his iconic hat and vest. Other than the missing clothing pieces, he seemed fine. The Stans caught up and fell over to catch their breaths behind Mabel, but all she could think about was her twin. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He seemed dizzy, but obeyed.  
  
"You did it Dipper! You saved us all!" She wrapped him up in a crushing bear-hug. "You're so stupid and I thought you were going to die but you're alive and you DID IT and--"  
  
"Um, do I know you?" Mabel cut off her ramblings and tore away to look at Dipper.  
  
"Dip-Dop?" She chuckled nervously, "Brobro, it's me. It's me, your twin! Mabel!" When his expression didn't change from the blank confusion, she turned to Ford. "Grunkle Ford what happened to Dipper!? WHY DOESN'T HE RECOGNIZE ME?!?!"  
  
Surprisingly, Stan answered. He looked at the kid in sorrow. "He pulled out a memory gun and erased his mind as soon as Bill got in. He did exactly what Stanley was going to do, if he hadn't kept his mouth shut."  
  
"Stanley?" Mabel was confused. Why was Grunkle Stan talking crazy now?  
  
"Oh. Right. We switched clothes. I'm Stan," seemingly Ford said. "I was going to be Ford, but the kid beat me to it." He shook his head and looked down.  
  
Well that explained that, but Dipper was still looking at them like they were speaking another language, and it was just all settling in, and--  
  
"ERASED HIS MIND?!" Mabel choked back a sob. "No, nononono..." Ford--no, Stan--pulled Mabel in for a hug and she clung to him like a lifeline.  
  
"What's going on?" Dipper asked, thoroughly confused.  
  
Ford approached him. "He saved all of us. He doesn't even know." He wiped a tear from his eye. "You're our hero, Dipper." He hugged the teenager.  
  
  
  
The family eventually gathered their wits and started to head home, Mabel pulling Dipper by his hand, Stan and Ford following the anxious and confused twins.  
  
When the promenade passed a certain tree, Dipper stopped in his tracks. Mabel turned to him, question on her lips, when he tore his hand away from her and ran into the forest.  
  
"Where are you going?!" she called after him.  
  
"Wait a sec!" he shouted back.  
  
"He's going to get himself killed," Ford muttered, and Mabel was about to sprint after her twin when he emerged again--  
  
With a blond teen wearing the same clothes as him and using him as a crutch?  
  
"Wha--Dipper, who's that?!" Mabel exclaimed as the twins similarly expressed their confusion.  
  
Dipper glanced up at her before adjusting his friend's arm. "I don't really know, I just have a gut feeling that I know him."  
  
Great. So Dipper doesn't remember his own family, but he 'knows' some blond freak from the woods?! Who was this guy anyways? Mabel looked over him.  
  
His head was ducked down so Mabel couldn't see his face clearly, but he had short, bright yellow hair, an orange shirt and shorts outfit that matched dipper's, and one of his knees was heavily inflamed. Mabel winced in sympathy--how did she not notice his injury until now?  
  
As if reading her mind, Stan helped Dipper set the boy down on a tree trunk and Ford kneeled down in front of them. “I’m a trained professional doctor,” he told Dipper as he took the blond’s leg in his hands and jerked it back into place with a sickening pop.  
  
The kid let out a surprised half-laugh half-cry sound that broke Mabel’s heart and he grabbed Dipper’s hand, squeezing it so hard it looked like he was going to break it.  
  
“Grunkle Ford, did you have to be that violent?!” she demanded.  
  
“I was resetting his dislocated knee, what do you mean, ‘violent’?” He threw his hands in the air in confusion.  
  
“You could’ve at least given any of us a heads-up that it would hurt him!”  
  
“Six fingers…” the kid muttered, and everyone turned to him.  
  
He wasn’t looking at the ground anymore, his eyes were locked on Ford’s hands.  
  
One of his irises was light blue. The other was bright yellow.  
  
For a moment, the Pines family just stared at him. Then Ford slowly, slowly, put his arm into his coat and slowly, slowly pulled out–  
  
“FORD PUT THAT GUN AWAY WE DON’T KNOW IF IT’S ACTUALLY HIM!” Stan tackled Ford and grabbed his arm as Mabel pried the plasma blaster out from his six fingers. The blond boy clutched Dipper’s entire arm, yanking him down to sit next to him on the log.

Mabel finally pulled Ford’s gun away from him and held it protectively to her chest as Stan pinned him to the ground.  
  
“You’re making a big mistake, Stanley. He needs to be eliminated immediately!” Ford demanded.  
  
“For once, can you not make rash decisions? I’m all for getting rid of the filthy triangle, but this could be some random, stupid teen!”  
  
“CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Everyone turned to Dipper, who was forgotten in the scuffle and fuming. “I know you are all telling me you’re my family, but I don’t want to be around FREAKING MURDERERS. So.” He turned to Mabel, as his gut told him she could be trusted, and asked, “Explain.”  
  
Mabel glanced at Ford. “Um, we thought he was someone who did some bad things to the whole town, and Grunkle Ford decided to shoot first, ask questions later.”  
  
“Bad things? BAD THINGS?!” Dipper chuckled humorlessly. “What could he possibly have done that permits you to KILL him?!”  
  
“He…attempted to murder and torture a lot of people, Rioted to promote anarchy, and burned down half of the town,” Ford said as Stan helped him up.  
  
“Really?” Dipper looked to Mabel for confirmation, and she nodded. “And how do you know Bill was the one to do all this?” He tilted his head towards the boy still clinging onto his arm.  
  
“B–Bill?” Mabel choked out.  
  
“Yeah, that’s his name.” Dipper nudged the boy, who nodded.  
  
“No, it’s just that—”  
  
“The psychopath in question’s name is Bill too,” Stan cut in.  
  
Bill nestled his head into Dipper’s shoulder. “Of course it is,” he mumbled.  
  
“Well, Bill’s a popular name, how do you know this is the one?” Dipper glared at Ford as he shifted closer to Bill.  
  
The elderly man shook his head in disbelief. Who knew he would one day see his faithful nephew SNUGGLING with BILL CIPHER? “I…” He racked his brain for an answer, only to find he didn’t have one. This was just a blond teen with a yellow eye and unfortunate name. How does that make him a demon?  
  
‘It could all be an act,’ the paranoid part of his brain tells him. ‘He could just be setting everything up so he can kill you in your own home.’ In your own—that’s it! The Shack still had the Bill wards up! If he could only lure the teen into his test, he’ll be able to see if he’s really the demon!

“I don’t.” Ford hung his head in fake shame. “I overreacted. I should have made sure he was the one before trying to shoot him. I’m sorry.”  
  
“Apology not accepted,” Bill mumbled from beside Dipper.  
  
“Now that we got that out of the way, let’s go eat some Stancakes!” Mabel exclaimed as she appeared on Dipper’s other side. He jumped at the close proximity and loud voice. “Come on, Dip-Dop and…Bill!”  
  
She went to help Bill stand, but he flinched away from her touch. She frowned. “Come on, your leg’s still all weird. Let me help you—”

“I don’t trust anyone but Dipper!” Bill snapped. Mabel jerked her arm back to her chest, wounded. It made sense, of course, but that doesn’t mean it hurt any less. She looked at Dipper, who looked at her apologetically.  
  
“I guess I’ll give him a piggyback ride?” he told her, though it sounded like a question. She nodded and left him to do that as she walked over to where Stan and Ford were talking in hushed tones.  
  
“What do we do about Dipper’s memories, Pointdexer?” Stan asked. “Even if there’s something we can do, can we risk him telling Bill about the oddities of Gravity Falls and triggering a part two of weirdmaggedon?”  
  
Ford shook his head sadly. “I don’t know what we can do. I do have a plan made to make sure it’s Bill, but that’s about it.”  
  
“What do we do if it is him?” Mabel cut in. “We can’t just throw him out, as he’s dangerous. If we kill him, Broski will hate us—” she cut off with a sob, but continued “—for the rest of our lives. Also, how do we know Bill didn’t get amnesia too? He’s not being a huge jerky face. He just seems…” She glanced at Bill propped up on Dipper’s back, the two seemingly also in a conversation. “Pathetic.” She turned her attention to her brother. “But Grunkle Stan, I don’t want to lose Dip. He’s all I have at home! You get that, right?” She looked back at her grunkle, her eyes filled with tears.

Stan and Ford exchanged a glance before Stan pulled his niece into a hug. “Yes, pumpkin, I get that.”  
  
  
  
“What do you think about them?” Dipper asked Bill as his supposed sister—Maple, was it? What was up with these names? Who calls their kid ‘Dipper’?—walked over to the old men and gave one of them a hug.  
  
“I don’t trust any of them. Only you.” Bill emphasized the last two words with two pats to Dipper’s head.  
  
Dipper rolled his eyes. “Really? That’s weird, I kinda trust Maple.”  
  
“Why? She’s so emotional and loud, and she’s the one with the gun right now.” Indeed, Mabel(?) had the blaster Ford pulled out earlier strapped to her belt. But something in Dipper’s guts told him that she wouldn’t hurt him. It was the same feeling as the one he’d felt when he’d found Bill. ‘This is a person that you could trust,’ the gut feeling told him, which was so freaking funny, considering the only thing he could remember right now was ‘trust no one’.  
  
Mabel approached the two boys, a smile plastered on her face. “Come on—food awaits us at the Shack!” She started marching away, and Dipper could do nothing but follow her.


	3. Step 2: Take him home for dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if there's a trigger I should note

Dipper followed Mabel to the Shack, Bill riding his back piggyback style. When they approached the dilapidated building, they had to stand back and let Ford break down the door. The old man poked around and seemed pleased in something before gesturing for the three teens to come inside.

As Dipper passed the threshold (ducking down a bit so Bill wouldn’t bump his head), he felt a slight resistance to the air inside the house. It felt as if the Shack had a large bubble sitting inside, and he was trying to burst the membrane. Fortunately, it was just for a second, and the resistance was tiny, like a real bubble’s. He followed Mabel.

His “sister” led him to the kitchen, where he sat next to Bill at the table.

“This is a pretty nice place you got here,” Dipper mentioned. Even though the whole place was a mess, something just crashed through the living room ceiling, and he’s pretty sure there’s a family of opossums under the sink, he found he meant it. There’s just enough sentimental items scattered around to show someone lived here.

“You live here, kid,” Stan said from where he sulked in the doorway. “Don’t you remember anything?”

All Dipper could do was shake his head.

Mabel appeared out of the blue again—how did she DO that?!—and handed Bill an ice pack, telling him it was for his knee. When he didn’t accept, Dipper muttered ‘what could they do to poison a cold press?’ and dropped it on Bill’s knee anyways, ignoring his hiss.

“Well Grunkle Stan, it’s our civic duty to make sure DipDop remembers our cooking!” Mabel exclaimed, opening cupboards loudly and tossing ingredients everywhere.

A few minutes later, the old man was flipping pancakes as Mabel used a blender to make a suspiciously sparkly drink. Dipper’s stomach churned just looking at the beverage, so he looked around and realized Ford was missing.

“Where’d the other old man go?” He thought a second. “I think his name was Fork?”

Stan placed a plate of steaming hot pancakes in his likeness on the table. “You mean Ford. ‘Said he had work to do, so he’s..” He hesitated a second, glancing at Bill. “In his office. But in the meantime, who wants some Stancakes!?”

Bill waited until Mabel set down a jug of the sparkling liquid and sat down. She chose a pancake and took a bite—that meant it must be safe! He snatched the top pancake and scarfed it down faster than Dipper could pick up his fork.

“Wow, hungry much?” Mabel quipped as she poured some maple syrup on her plate.

“This tastes soooo good!” Bill said. “I haven’t eaten in…” He stopped inhaling pancakes for a second to think, before shrugging the thought off. “I can’t even remember the last time I ate!” He bit into another Stancake.

Mabel and Stan looked at him in shock. Not only did he just talk for the longest amount of time yet to them, he just fessed up to not remembering eating?! Could that mean--

“Speaking of the past, where’re you from, Bill?” Mabel smoothly asked, pouring herself a glass of Mabel Juice.

The blond teen flinched suddenly, as if realizing what he was saying and doing. He scooted closer to Dipper, who held up a forkful of a stancake’s ear and scrutinized it before shrugging and taking a bite.

“I’m from--” Bill stopped. His brow furrowed. He tried again: “I’m from…” He stared at the table, as if it would tell him the answer. All of a sudden, his eyes went wide. “I don’t know where I’m from.”

Bill looked up at Dipper, who was frowning in sympathy. He wrapped his arm around the blond’s back. “Join the club.”

Meanwhile, the pancake Stan was cooking had caught on fire and Mabel’s jaw was practically on the floor.

“Okay… do you remember anything?” Mabel asked. Both boys scrunched up their brows in thought.

A few seconds passed before both boys shook their heads, obviously spooked.

Mabel exhaled completely before plastering a smile on her face. She could think about that info later, right now the boys needed a distraction. And if Mabel Pines is anything, it’s distracting.“Well, then neither of you’ll say no to Mabel Juice!” She grabbed the jug and filled both of their glasses.

“I’ve been staring at that for a while now, is that a plastic dinosaur in there?!” Dipper asked. All Mabel did was chuckle and wink, which did not help his nerves. He held the glass up to the light. “Also, I don’t think there’s a—forget healthy—an EDIBLE amount of glitter in here!”

“You’re right, kid. I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” Stan mentioned as he replenished the stack of pancakes on the table. “Plastic in a drink is a one way ticket to the grave.”

Mabel shushed him. “But glitter makes everything so much better!” Mabel took a sip, drinking it as easily as if it were water. She smiled at them. “Come on, you can’t hate it when you’ve never tried it!”

Bill hesitated, squinting at the cup. The girl drank some, so it couldn’t be THAT toxic, right? And he was so thirsty... He then picked up his cup—

And chugged the whole thing down. Dipper watched him in horror while Mabel whooped and cheered him on.

Bill slammed the glass back onto the table, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and pressing into Dipper’s side.

“Dang, Bill! I think you’re the first person I’ve seen who didn’t throw up at the first sip!” Mabel beamed.

Shoving his glass away from himself, Dipper nudged the boy next to him. “Bill, are you still alive?” The boy didn’t move for a few seconds. Dipper nudged him again.

Then Bill looked up with the biggest grin on his face. “I love the way it scratches your throat as it goes down!”

“Color me impressed, kid,” Stan said, startling the teens, who’d forgotten he was there, “that stuff is poison.”

Bill flushed and looked back at his leg, which had been propped up on a chair and forgotten. The ice pack had melted and gone limp, leaving behind a little puddle that was dripping off the seat.

Dipper noticed his diverted attention, and realized the knee never received real treatment—just got temporarily fixed before being jostled around a lot. He thought about how much pain Bill could be in, and his own knees throbbed in sympathy.

“Hey, isn’t your leg really messed up? We should take you to the hospital or something.” He looked up at Stan. “Is there a hospital around here?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be filled to the brim right about now, considering the past week.” He slowly grinned. “Which is the perfect reason to go! Make some cash off of those idiots.” Stan walked off, muttering about merchandise to sell and money to make.

Dipper looked at Mabel. “Is he really going to try to scam a bunch of hospital patients?”

“It’s the family trade!” She started to gather the dishes to put them in the sink.

“And THEY don’t trust ME,” Bill muttered. Dipper snorted and helped him stand up. “Speaking of, do I REALLY need to go to the hospital?”

The boy cocked his head in confusion. “Your leg was really mangled. Who knows what kind of internal damage you could have?”

“But it feels fine! It feels better than fine, it feels great! So I don’t need to go to the hospital!” To prove his point, Bill shifted his weight onto his bad leg, before squeaking and falling back into Dipper.

“Bill, you can’t stand, let alone walk.”

“Well maybe that’s what you’re for, slave!” Neither boy noticed Mabel wince.

Dipper laughed before his tone went serious. “I just don’t get the big deal. Why don’t you want to go to the hospital?” Bill mumbled something he couldn’t hear. “What? Speak up, I can’t hear you.”

“What if I really am that psycho-Bill person? There’ll be so many people there.” That is true, if anyone else recognizes him like Mr. Fork did, he’d probably be at gunpoint again…

“Hey, I’ll protect you. I won’t leave you alone, okay?” Bill flushed and looked away. “Seriously, if you ever feel unsafe, just tell me, and we can leave.”

Bill nodded, and the two followed Mabel and Stan out to the old car. The boys were just buckled up in the backseat when--

“STAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Ford came barrelling out of the front door of the Shack. Bill immediately curled into Dipper, burrowing his head into the other’s shoulder. The brunet instinctively wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer. 

“Driving to the hospital?” Mabel asked. “Bill needs his leg fixed.”

“You’re letting him roam free! And letting him near EVERYONE IN GRAVITY FALLS?! Do you even KNOW how many people are in the hospital right now?!”

“Don’t worry Sixer, I got plenty of stuff to sell in the trunk!” Stan announced. “It’s a gold mine!”

“THAT’S NOT--” Ford cut himself off with a sigh. “You know what? I’m getting too old for this. Way too old for this. I can just blame your irresponsibility for the sequel. Maybe Mabel can have her mind wiped this time.” With that, he stormed off again.

The car was in an awkward silence for a few moments, before Dipper sighed and said, “the hospital?”

“Right. Idiots await us!” Stan started the car, and they drove off.


	4. Step 3: Make sure to take care of his injuries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little note beforehand: I have never broken a bone, let alone gone to the ER, so I'm writing based off of research. It'll be pretty inaccurate but then again reality is fake so who cares.
> 
> TW: light? descriptions of traumatized people in a hospital setting  
> Please tell me if there are any other triggers I should mention here.

Stan drove the three teens to the Gravity Falls Emergency Room in a slightly awkward silence. Mabel was humming along to the radio in the passenger’s seat as the boys in the backseat were holding hands and mumbling about something. Stan sighed. Did they have to be so attached? If it really turned out to be Bill…

Dipper’s heart would be broken.

Stan stopped the car at the front of the ER entrance. He turned around in his seat, and addressed the group. “Okay, I’ll set up shop outside, while you kids scam the doctors into getting you free care.”

Mabel nodded enthusiastically. “Gotcha Grunkle Stan!” She hopped out of the car and helped take some of the merchandise out of the trunk as Bill used Dipper as a crutch yet again and limped for the door.

Pretty fast, Mabel had set up a sparkly Mystery Shack stand as Stan stood and watched. It had shade and a lounge seat--all the things an old man would want.

But eventually, Mabel had to quit stalling and lead the boys into the hospital.

It was crowded, noisy, and hectic. There were people everywhere, waiting for their turn with the doctor. Some were rocking back and forth in their chair, eyes unfocused, while others were crying or looked furious. There were a handful of homemade-looking casts and splints, and overall everyone looked traumatized.

Bill limped a little closer to Dipper. “Did...did the psychopath do this?”

“Yeah, what happened to everyone?” Dipper asked.

Mabel sighed. “I’ll catch you guys up later, but yes, HE did all of this.”

The nurse at the front desk looked exhausted. He was severely hunched over and his hair was a mess. He sighed when the three approached the desk. “What seems to be the problem?”

“My friend here broke his knee or something,” Mabel gestured to Bill’s very obvious limp.

“Okay, we’ll take his vitals and then you can have a seat. It’ll take a while until we can get to you, considering all that has happened.”

A second nurse appeared and motioned for Bill to follow her over to a little station that was set up. Dipper helped him limp over and sit on the bench. When Dipper tried to walk away, Bill grabbed his arm and yanked him down by his side. The brunet rolled his eyes but when the nurse didn’t tell him to move, he stayed.

As the nurse checked Bill’s blood pressure and other variables, she asked questions like, “Do you have a past with leg injuries?” and “How long ago did you get hurt?” Because Bill seemed to be at a loss for all of the questions, Mabel—who was standing beside the bench—jumped in and started answering on his behalf.

“He’s had trouble remembering things since You-Know-What ended, and he’s a distant…friend who just arrived here today, so we don’t know his past medical history.”

Bill stared at her. Her friend?! She didn’t seem to recognize him at all when they first met—did she just lie? It seemed so easy for her—what else has she been lying about?!

“Okay, everything seems to be in order,” the nurse said, looking at a clipboard she had scribbled notes on. “I’ll just go—oh!” She looked up sheepishly. “I don’t have your basic information! Name, date of birth, the like.” She passed Mabel a paper on a clipboard and a pen. “Please fill in the most information you can!” Then the nurse frittered away to help another patient.

Mabel looked down at the paper. It read:

[Name: ]

[Date of birth: ]

[Sex: ]

[Gender: ]

[Address: ]

[Telephone Number: ]

She filled in the address and telephone with the Mystery Shack’s information, but was at a loss for the rest of the info. She passed it to Bill, who was staring at her strangely but took it anyways.

After a few moments of Bill writing and Dipper looking over his shoulder, Bill passed the clipboard back to her silently.

She looked at the information that now filled up the paper in a childlike scrawl:

[Name: BILL] Well that was SO useful. What did she expect—for him to go ahead and write “Bill Cipher”?

[Date of birth: AUGUST 31, 2004] This confused Mabel. He has the same birthday as Dipper and herself? This also means she has to share her special day with a potential demon… She shuddered and moved on.

[Sex: FEMALE] Wait, were they misgendering him this whole time—

[Gender: GENDER IS USELESS BUT MALE] Oh. Huh. Another similarity to Dipper. How odd.

She was suddenly blindingly aware of how Bill’s clothes matched Dipper’s, even though Dipper’s the only one in town who’s fashion-blind enough to wear ORANGE. Too many things lined up. She shoved the train of thought away to deal with later.

What couldn’t be dealt with later was the fact that the nurse was coming back and it had dawned on Mabel that if anyone else found out Bill’s name, all three of them would be in huge trouble. She nudged the blond (who was talking to Dipper about their hair, or something?) and he flinched and turned towards her.

“If you had to change your name to something that wasn’t related to your current name at all, what would it be?”

Bill stared at her blankly for a second before mumbling, “Maybe…Lib?”

Snorting, Dipper pointed out, “She said not related to the original at all.” But Mabel just shook a hand at him dismissively as she scribbled out the ‘BILL’ on the form.

“No, it’s fine. Perfect, actually. What about a last name?” The nurse was maybe a yard away—

“What about Washington?” Mabel nodded and wrote down his “name” just in time to hand it to the nurse.

“Thanks for filling this out. Also, because…” the nurse stopped and squinted at the name on the paper, “…Lib has a physical injury, the doctor is ready for you now!” She waited for the boys to stand up before leading them through the building to their room.

For the first time ever, Mabel hoped they wouldn’t run into anyone she knew.


	5. Step 3 (continued): Keep taking care of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stars, I don't know what to tell all of you. I thought I was going to ditch this story, but you're all so nice and your comments pushed me to post this chapter.  
> Trigger warnings: A character goes through a doctor visit  
> Thanks to my friend for beta'ing this chapter!

The nurse abandoned the trio of teens in a random doctor's office. Bill, er, Lib, was told to sit on the bed, so he dragged Dipper over with him. Mabel stood near the door, waiting for the doctor and giving the boys a little space so that she could think to herself about the situation, and so they could talk in peace.

“I swear, your hair is fine, you’re so picky,” Dipper said when Lib brushed his hair away from his left eye for the dozenth time. Strangely enough, while he couldn’t stand having a single lock in front of the left half of his face, his right eye was covered in a curtain of ignored bangs. “Hey, I never asked--why do you brush your hair away from your left eye, but leave it in front of your right eye? Can you even see anything through that hair?”

Lib squinted in confusion and messed with his hair again. “What are you talking about?”

Dipper reached close and picked up the bangs in front of Lib’s eye. “Can’t you see better now?”

“You’re not doing anything,” Lib said, staring at him like he was crazy.

Wait. Dipper held up two fingers in front of Lib’s right eye. When he asked Lib to count them, the blonde turned his head so that his left eye could see the hand. Was he…?

“Are you...can you see in this eye?”

“What do you mean? Why would I have more than one eye?”

Mabel, from where she stood at the door, suddenly stiffened and went very pale.

Dipper was just confused. “Um, dude. Look at me.” He gestured to his two eyes. “I have two of them.” He pointed to Mabel. “She has two of them. Why wouldn’t you?”

Lib looked extremely confused. “But, I have yellow hair. You two have brown hair. Isn’t it like that?”

“I--what? No!” Dipper chuckled. “Pretty much all humans have two eyes. It’s not like you’re a cyclops.”

Bill looked down at his hands with his brow furrowed in thought.

“I mean--geez, how did I not notice this earlier?” Dipper thought back, he never noticed Lib stumble or do anything wonky on his right si--

Wait.

Dipper had been positioned on Lib’s right side the entire day. It made sense, since it was his right leg that got hurt. Could his eye have been affected by whatever broke his knee? Dipper wasn’t a doctor, but that wouldn’t normally happen, right?

Whatever, Dipper had more important things to think about. Like how Mabel, leaning against the doorframe, seemed to go as stiff as a board while they were talking about Lib’s eye.

Oh no. Was that another similarity between Bill and Lib?

Dipper was going to ask about it, but a woman entered the room first, and Lib’s hand shot out to grab Dipper’s before he could even begin to think of what to say.

“Lib Washington’s in here, correct?” the woman asked. Dipper and Lib were confused for a moment about who she was talking about, but Mabel nodded and gestured to Lib. “Excellent! I should introduce myself. Hello, I’m Dr. McStuffins. I’ll be taking care of you today.” She extended her left hand to Lib.

The effect was instantaneous and rather surprising. Mabel jerked forward like she wanted to do something, but caught herself halfway, and Lib jerked backwards away from the hand like he thought it would bite him.

Dipper was so confused.

Thankfully, Dr. McStuffins just smiled pleasantly and took her hand back. “Alright then. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Lib shrugged and gestured to his leg. He looked a bit sheepish at his earlier reaction. “Fell. Hurt my leg,” he mumbled.

“That sounds awful! I’m afraid we're going to have to examine that. Can you move so that your leg is on the bed?”

After a bit of moving around and and wincing and shuffling–and Dipper trying to move out of the way but Lib pulling him back into place–Lib’s leg was lying straight out in front of him on the bed.

“Great job, thank you! Now, this might hurt a little bit, and I’m really sorry if it does. I’m just going to move your joint around and feel how bad the problem is. Is that okay?”

When Lib nodded, Dr. McStuffins gently started to prod his knee. He immediately winced and leaned into Dipper. Every now and then, the doctor would ask Lib if something hurt, and he would either squeeze Dipper's hand and nod or shake his head. While she did seem like her words were aimed towards someone much younger than however old Dipper and Lib were–13, maybe?–Dipper felt calmed by her presence.

Mabel also seemed a lot less tense now, sitting in a chair to the side and flipping through a children’s book.

“Alright, it doesn’t seem too bad. It probably hurts a ton, but it doesn’t need anything other than rest and pain medication. Now, is there anything else that was hurting you?”

Lib shook his head, but Dipper nudged him and gestured to his right eye. Oh, right.

“Well, actually, I can’t see out of my eye.”

Dr. McStuffins frowned sympathetically. “That’s not good! I’ll check your vision then. Do you know why this might be?”

Lib shook his head.

“I don’t think this was a recent thing though,” inputted Dipper. “He’s too used to it to have only recently gone blind.”

The doctor hummed to thank Dipper for the information. “Alright Lib, I’m going to shine a light into your eyes to check them. It’ll be bright, but can you please try to focus on looking at the tip of this pen? If I move it, please track it with your eyes.”

After a nod from Lib, Dr. McStuffins started to check his eyes. She spent a worrying amount of time on his right one.

Finally, she stepped away. “All done! That wasn’t too bad, right?”

Lib’s gaze fell to the floor. “I messed it up, right?”

“Well, it is true that you didn’t pass, but you did as well as you could with the eyes that you have!”

Lib shrugged.

“So, do you know what’s wrong with his eye?” Dipper asked.

The doctor peeled off her gloves and tossed them in the garbage. “Well, my diagnosis is that it’s untreated amblyopia--you might know it as ‘lazy eye’? It’s when the brain ignores one eye in favor of the other, and over time the ignored eye goes blind. It’s treatable at a young age, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Oh.

“Well, at least it’s not like you have to get used to it, you’ve had it since you were born,” commented Mabel.

“Yeah, that’s true. If you have trouble with it, however, you may want to look into things that can help you, such as a white cane or a guide dog.”

Then, the doctor gave Lib instructions on how much pain killer to take to help the pain, and asked them one final time if that was everything that was hurt.

Lib considered telling her about his broken memory, but he ultimately decided against it. He kind of…honestly…didn’t want to find out if he was really The Bill that hurt the town. So, it was better just to keep quiet and pretend that nothing was wrong.

For some reason, Lib felt like he used to do that a lot. Pretend.

Huh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh AO3 ate up my notes  
> ok so I know what you're thinking. 'Goose, why is there a character named Dr. McStuffins?'  
> Well it made me laugh and update so there. And I swear this'll be the only Disney Jr. character in here. Once the kids finally get home and actually start doing stuff, it'll just be Gravity Falls characters.

**Author's Note:**

> I update anywhere from a day to two weeks after the previous update. If it's been a month, feel free to bully me in the comments.  
> Each chapter (excluding the prologue) is roughly 1K words


End file.
